U-Turn Audio’s $150 Orbit turntable- pic

Steve just linked me here - thanks for all the feedback! We are moving towards production, and I wanted to give you guys something to look at other than the rendering from March. More details to come soon!

I wrote them inquiring about becoming a dealer and got pretty much the same reply.
I can't see why it would be impossible. I have often thought thought that if Panasonic can wholesale tone arms for 50 bucks, how much is left to do? A platter, a bearing, a cheap DC motor and some MDF? Additionally, I am sure we would all be shocked to find out what ProJect, Music Hall et. al. actually cost to manufacture. All those 'black slab' tables are made in the Czech Republic and I would guess pretty cheaply.

Steve just linked me here - thanks for all the feedback! We are moving towards production, and I wanted to give you guys something to look at other than the rendering from March. More details to come soon!

Steve just linked me here - thanks for all the feedback! We are moving towards production, and I wanted to give you guys something to look at other than the rendering from March. More details to come soon!

That photograph looks a lot nicer than the rendering! It's great to see these folks starting up and I wish them every success. :thmbsp:

I must confess to being slightly troubled by the exposed belt, however. It seems to invite the snagging of debris (a matter of some concern in a four cat household) and I wonder whether constant exposure to light will be good for it, in the long term?

I like the exposed belt. From what I can see in the picture it looks very nice. I am wondering how well the belt will stay on the pulley; looks like there's so little wiggle room above it that it could easily come off.

Can't tell what the platter is made of. Looks like it could be metallic, or painted, or a band of veneer.

The finish on the MDF plinth is interesting...still trying to figure out if it's plastic laminate, or paint. It almost has a Formica texture to it. I'm having a hard time understanding how a good looking finish on raw MDF could be accomplished with paint, and it wouldn't help keep the edges of the MDF from getting chipped easily. But it also seems like it would be expensive to have a laminate veneer on it.

The finish on the MDF plinth is interesting...still trying to figure out if it's plastic laminate, or paint. It almost has a Formica texture to it. I'm having a hard time understanding how a good looking finish on raw MDF could be accomplished with paint, and it wouldn't help keep the edges of the MDF from getting chipped easily.

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You can buy special undercoats that will bond to the smooth surface of MDF and take all kinds of textures of paint. I learned this when I was redoing a kitchen, back in London.

What I find interesting, and rather clever, is the cut edges of the MDF plinth. It appears that they've built an embossing tool to put a pattern of indentations in there before sealing it. That's a really clever way of making a virtue out of necessity.:tresbon:

I like that they rounded off the corners, too. Interesting that the renderings show it with a shiny surface--perhaps there will be different price points for different finishes?

I just noticed that the one pictured has a dustcover on it--hard to see, but it's there. Also, it looks warped (the area right behind the belt pulley) ...could be an illusion or camera distortion, hopefully.

The tables look like one of those low end Pro-jects Essential decks that i used to own, granted the turntable was easy (if a little fiddly) to set up. The big problem was the fact that the motor noise could be a bit t overbearing during quiet passages.

Steve just linked me here - thanks for all the feedback! We are moving towards production, and I wanted to give you guys something to look at other than the rendering from March. More details to come soon!

Just seeing this now. I know alot of people that want to get into (or back into) vinyl records but don't want to fork out $300+ to do it or buy an old player. This would get alot of people into the game for cheap. :thmbsp: